Gulf Cartel gunmen have been buying thousands of rounds of ammunition in South Texas and smuggling it into Mexico. The bulk purchases of ammunition come as the Gulf Cartel has been waging a fierce turf war between two of its rival factions.
As Breitbart Texas reported, two factions have been at war since late April. For their clashes, cartel gunmen have been using armored vehicles, explosives, .50 caliber rifles, and other high-powered weapons.
This week, Mexico’s National Guard announced the seizure of close to 1,000 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition that a Texas man allegedly tried to smuggle from Brownsville, Texas, to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in a black SUV. The seizure took place on the south side of Veteran’s International Bridge when the unnamed man was sent to a secondary inspection area. Inside his SUV, authorities found the ammunition hidden inside black plastic containers. After seizing the ammunition, Mexican authorities arrested the man.
The ammunition seizure comes just days after U.S. authorities, in a separate case, arrested a father and son in South Texas who had purchased 600 rounds of .50 caliber ammunition. The arrest took place on October 25 in Hidalgo County. Court documents obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that Jesus Maciel Garcia and his son Jeremiah are facing multiple federal charges in Texas in connection with the ammunition that was allegedly going to be sent to Mexico. The ammunition was sent to another individual who bought it on behalf of Garcia. He and his son had traveled to the man’s home to pick it up, court documents revealed.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Jesus Garcia is a convicted felon and could not legally possess ammunition. However, at the time of the arrests, he and his son had the ammunition inside their GMC Yukon. While court documents do not mention the Gulf Cartel, that criminal organization is the one believed to be behind the large purchases of ammunition for use in their ongoing turf war.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales, “J.C. Sanchez”, and “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas. J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila.
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